


Too Long Since I've Been A Fool

by fightingforlarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 13:09:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5929603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fightingforlarry/pseuds/fightingforlarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’ll have you know, Harry,” taking a seat at the kitchen island, Louis continues, “that my daughter usually isn’t so responsive and open to people she’s just met. I don’t know why she likes you so much already.”<br/>“Maybe I’m special?”<br/>Biting his lip, Louis whispers to himself, “Yeah. Maybe you are.”</p>
<p>or:  Louis is a widower with a little girl who's driving him crazy while Christmas shopping. It doesn't help when she finds a school friend at the store, shopping with his hot uncle Harry. After Christmas break, Harry might end up picking his nephew up from school a lot more and Louis might enjoy getting there a little earlier to enjoy the beautiful stranger's company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Long Since I've Been A Fool

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> Title comes from Troye Sivan's song "WILD" (which is such a tune)
> 
> A huge, huge MASSIVE thank you to my lovely beta, Eliana.  
> I think people forget that beta’s take time out of their own lives to help others with their stories, and get nothing in return. So everyone remember to send lots and lots of love to all of them out there. And I’ll say a special thanks to mine, who has been nothing short of incredible and supportive and made this fic the best it could be. You’re fab!
> 
> Thanks for the awesome prompts tiredsongs. I got so excited when I got given them, it was hard to choose just one. I really, really hope I've done your ideas justice.
> 
> And lastly, a massive thank you to Meg, E & Charlie for putting this exchange together. I'm so sorry I had to ask for so many extensions...I must have been a real pain. I'm sure everyone appreciates all the hard work you put into bringing the fandom plenty of new reading material.

“But dad, please? Please, please, please?”  
“No way in the world, Del. I’m sorry, you’ve had too much sugar today already.” Louis declares as he looks down to his daughter, her eyes barely showing under the mound of colourful beanies and scarves wrapped around her head.   
It was snowing outside, and she insisted on taking short walk to the store, squeezing almost every item of clothing she owned onto her body before leaving the house. She refused to take off her winter wear even though the heating is on in the supermarket. He can see tiny beads of sweat forming on the tiny bit of her forehead that isn’t covered by cloth.  
“I not have, dad! I want a lollypop!” She shrieks loudly, stamping her little foot on the ground.   
Louis’ face flushes red as he feels a few heads turn their way. Crouching down to his daughter’s level, he schools his face into a disappointed frown and gently plucks the lollypop out of her tiny hands, placing it back on the shelf.   
“Excuse me, Delaney Johannah Tomlinson. Please don’t yell me. I said you have had far too much sugar today already. Now do you have anything to say to me?” he questions, looking at her expectantly.  
Delaney’s eye’s flick over her father’s shoulder, her face breaking into delight before she barrels into a run down the aisle and around a corner yelling “Caleb! Hi Caleb!”  
Sighing, Louis abandons his trolley full of food and jogs after his three-year-old.  
Honestly, he just wants to go home. He’s had enough and they’re at the last shop they need to visit today. Why can’t she just listen for ten more minutes? He doesn’t need to be chasing his daughter through a store for the seventh time today. Louis loves his girl dearly, but she has been driving him crazy. They’d spent the day in town getting the last of their Christmas presents for everyone and Del has been misbehaving the whole time.   
Rounding the corner into the next aisle, he skids to a stop as his mouth drops open.   
Not because Delaney is standing in the middle of the fresh produce section with her arms swinging wildly, bouncing on her toes and talking to a young boy of similar age, while her scarves and beanies are laying in a tangled pile on the floor, which she most likely unravelled herself from.   
No, it is because of the gorgeous young man who is beside Delaney and her little friend - who Louis recognises from Del’s daycare. He’s crouched down next to the two kids and he directs a question at Delaney with a wide smile before she spins herself around, spotting Louis and yelling “There. That’s daddy right there,” with her small hand flapping in his direction.  
The young man’s eyes look up from his position on the floor and halt on Louis.   
He has kind eyes and deep dimples, with flowing locks of brown hair that reach his shoulders. A cute little blue beanie is perched on his head, the green pom-pom on the top bobbing around as the man moves his head.   
Louis’ feet carry him toward the small group, speaking out loud as he gets closer.   
“Del, what have I told you about running off?” he directs the question to his daughter. “You know better than that, sweets.”   
She immediately curls in on herself as Louis begins to squat in front of her, ignoring the others for the time being.   
“My sorry daddy.” She holds out her arms for a hug and Louis’ heart just melts.   
“And what else do you need to say sorry for?” He pulls her close and buries his face into her hair. “Maybe for yelling at daddy when he said no more lollies?”  
“Yesh.” She pulls out of the embrace to pout at him with the sad eyes that she knows will get her out of almost anything.   
This event included. “That’s okay, honey. Just please remember your manners next time.” He pulls her back in for another cuddle.  
His daughter certainly knows how to weave her way out of being in trouble. He knows he needs to stay a bit firmer on her, especially given that he’s a single parent. He wants to raise her right as a well behaved child and doesn’t want to spoil her too much, but sometimes she’s just so cute that he lets a few little things slide.   
And okay, maybe sometimes when she’s in trouble and Louis is trying to be stern with her, he’ll start laughing by accident and she gets out of being scolded. But honestly, any parent who says that hasn’t happened to them is a liar.   
Somebody clearing their throat breaks the two out of their embrace and they both look towards the curly haired man.   
“Hi, I’m Harry,” he says, gesturing a hand forward, “Caleb’s Uncle.”  
Louis stands up and reaches out to give Harry's hand a firm shake. “Louis. Lovely to meet you.” Wow, his hands are so soft. “Delaney and Caleb are good friends from day-care, she talks about him all the time.”  
Both men look down towards the children and see them sitting on the floor together, sharing a punnet of strawberries they’ve stolen off the shelf, juice dribbling down both their chins.   
A snort rushes out of Harry’s mouth as he covers it with his hand and giggles quietly.   
“That’s so sweet.” he whispers to Louis, “I’ll have to pay for the empty package on the way out.”   
The men stand quietly watching the two children together for another minute before Louis bends down to gently tap his daughter on the shoulder.  
“C’mon love, it’s time to go home now.” Both kids look up, absolute devastation written all over their faces.   
“No daddy, please. I want to play with my boyfriend longer than this.”   
“Your what?!” Louis squeaks.  
“My Caleb boyfriend.”  
Harry starts laughing softly before turning toward Caleb and asking “And what about you buddy? Is Delaney your girlfriend too?”  
The tiny blonde boy begins nodding his head so fast he must be getting dizzy and cries out a “Yep!”   
Louis doesn’t know what to say. He's just standing there with his mouth opening and closing like a guppy fish.   
He knows it’s not a big deal, at all. He knows the kids don’t properly even know what it means to say they’re boyfriend and girlfriends at just three years old. But it hits him, standing there in the middle of the supermarket, just how fast his little girl is growing up. It feels like just yesterday he was riding the emotional rollercoaster that was simultaneously the worst and best day of his entire life.   
He doesn’t realise he’s crying until he feels a soft hand on his shoulder. He snaps out of his reverie and quickly begins to wipe at his eyes as Harry whispers “Are you alright?” into his ear, gently tapping his shoulder like he’s not really sure what to do.   
“God, yeah, I am." Louis chokes out.   
He can’t seem to stop the tears from falling though. To turn his embarrassment into pure mortification, his mouth decides to let out a loud sob which brings on a fresh wave of tears.   
Harry’s brain must kick into motion because he automatically wraps his arms around Louis, rubbing his back and whispering “Shhh, it’s okay. Let’s get you out of here, yeah?”   
Louis feels himself nod, but is only vaguely aware of what is happening around him while he tries his damn hardest to calm down.   
He hears Harry tell the young kids to forget the groceries and to hold hands while they cross the street, but the next thing he knows, he’s shivering on a strangers couch with a blanket draped over his shoulders and his daughter is nowhere to be seen.  
“Oh God.” he cries as he shoots up out of the chair and starts darting about, looking around frantically, “Where is Delaney?” He’s lifting up cushions and looking under the coffee table when Harry clears his throat from the doorway holding two mugs of something he can't identify.   
“She’s just with Caleb doing some colouring in his room next door. You can run and check on her if you’d like? It’s just the first door on the left.” Harry says as he makes his way into the room and places the mugs on the coffee table, sliding one closer to Louis.  
“Thanks.” Louis heads toward the room Harry directed him to and slowly peeks his head in through the doorway.   
The kids are sitting cross-legged on the floor together with a colouring book each, sharing a pile of coloured pencils between them. Del’s favourite movie ‘Penguins of Madagascar’ is softly playing on a tiny flat screen that’s perched on a chest of draws painted with the Spiderman logo.   
Delaney’s head turns to peek at him, “Hi daddy. You not sad no more?”  
“Yes honey.” A smile slowly spreads over his face, “Daddy is happy now, you’re very special for caring about me.”   
Caleb is obviously distracted, scratching away on his colouring book with the wrong end of the pencil, as he doesn’t seem to notice the exchange between father and daughter.  
“Did you want to stay here for a little longer, or are you ready to go back to our house?”  
“No, daddy. I want to stay. We are watching The Pin-Gins of Maddie-Gab-Scar.”  
A soft laugh escapes Louis’ mouth. “Your favourite movie isn’t it, sweets? Okay, we can stay a little longer. Daddy will be just out here if you need him okay?” gesturing in the direction of the lounge.   
She replies with a quick o-tay, but she’s already turning around and reaching for a lime green pencil.  
She’s such a little independent girl now. Louis quickly shuffles back into the lounge, trying to swallow down the lump in his throat before he cries in front of Hot Harry again.   
That’s the last thing he needs.  
***  
“I really feel like I should explain.”  
“You honestly don’t have to, Louis. It’s absolutely fine.” He gives Louis’ arm two quick little pats, like he’s unsure of how to soothe a complete stranger.  
Louis takes a gulp of his coffee, scalding his throat as it slides down. “When Caleb and Del were talking about being boyfriend and girlfriend, I just thought about how fast my baby girl is growing up and I just lost it. This time of year is really hard. I’m so sorry.”  
“Please don’t be. You don’t need to explain anything to me.”   
The two men look toward each other, locking eyes for a few seconds before Louis glances away quickly, not willing to acknowledge the way his heart pumps just a little bit faster when Harry looks at him.   
Sounds of tiny pattering of feet are getting closer to the lounge and causes the two men to turn toward the door.  
“Hi Uncle Harry!” Caleb shouts, as he pounces up onto his lap.  
Delaney follows her friend’s lead and leaps onto the curly haired lad’s spare knee, “Yeah, Hi Uncle Hallie!” She screeches, her tiny hands twirling his hair around her fingers.   
“Harry.” Louis corrects his daughter.  
Delaney huffs quietly, throwing her dad an exasperated look. “Hallie,” she amends, “My call him Hallie.”  
Harry is positively beaming, holding onto both children. “What can I say?” he shrugs toward Louis, “Kids love me.”  
“Apparently so,” Louis says, standing and beginning to make his way into Caleb’s room to tidy up his daughter’s mess. While squatting down and shoving a fistful of pencils into a yellow pencil case, he can hear Harry asking the kids if they’re hungry. When he emerges from the room five minutes later, he finds Delaney and Caleb sitting on the kitchen floor who each with a bowl of instant dinosaur pasta and a glass of water.   
“I’ll have you know, Harry,” taking a seat at the kitchen island, Louis continues, “that my daughter usually isn’t so responsive and open to people she’s just met. I don’t know why she likes you so much already.”  
“Maybe I’m special?”   
Biting his lip, Louis whispers to himself, “Yeah. Maybe you are.”  
***  
It’s not like Louis spent most of his days over Christmas and New Year thinking of Harry. But, well, Louis spent most of his days over Christmas and New Year thinking of Harry.   
He and Delaney had a quiet Christmas - just the two of them - for the first time since she was born. Louis had woken up to Del’s face half an inch from his own, her whispering “Dad, it slowing!”   
It wasn’t snowing. It was that disgusting slush that came when it rained, and the water combined with the dirt covering the ground. Still, the father and daughter had bundled themselves up in their gloves and coats, before spending an hour in the backyard making the saddest “snowman” the world had ever seen. Later in the morning, the two had sat under the Christmas tree together as Del opened her presents from Santa (she then proceeded to burst into tears when she opened a Baby Annabell doll she had so desperately wanted).  
The rest of the day was spent filling themselves with enough food to feed roughly ten people, playing in Delaney’s room with her brand new doll, and watching ‘Frozen’ two times in a row. Just before Del’s bedtime, they Skyped with the rest of Louis’ family, who were having their holiday in Ireland.  
After his daughter had well and truly fallen asleep, Louis had sprawled out on the sofa and searched for Harry on Facebook. The fact he had wanked himself sore to pictures of a near-stranger was not his finest moment, nor was the fact that he was thinking of the certain-stranger during the entirety of Christmas day.   
New Year had passed in pretty much the same way. Delaney had been allowed to stay up to watch the 9pm fireworks on television and, after a huge temper tantrum she had fallen asleep in her father’s bed not long after. Louis’ party days were well and truly behind him since he had become a father, but, just this one time, he sat alone in a deck chair outside, drunk out of his brain on the wine that he was drinking straight from the bottle. If the reason for that was a curly haired and green eyed person, no one needed to know so.  
***  
It’s safe to say that New Year’s Day was a complete ride-off. He felt a little bad that Delaney had to spend most of the day entertaining herself while he wallowed in self-pity, enveloped in blankets, with his brain hammering behind his eyeballs. Before he knows it, it’s the 2nd of January and is baby girl is turning four.  
***  
Sunlight pours through the gap between the heavy black curtains in Delaney’s room. It’s the first time the sun has been out in over two weeks and Louis doesn’t believe that’s a coincidence.   
Looking toward his daughter, who is still sound asleep in her toddler bed – which is just her old white crib with one side taken off for her to climb in and out of – he sees her with her mound of stuffed toys and Baby Annabelle doll, all positioned around her.   
Louis allows himself a few minutes just standing in the doorway, admiring his girl. Her dark brown hair that usually sits under her ears in a bob is fanned out in a knotted mess on her Queen Elsa pillow. She has kicked off her blankets during the night and it’s immediately clear to him what she’s been up to during the night…yet again.  
She is wearing her Peppa Pig flannelette pyjamas, which is exactly what Louis dressed her in for bed last night. However, that’s not the part that makes Louis’ face break out in a wide grin. On top of her PJ’s, she has squeezed on her blue dancing tutu with long Batman socks and her combat boots - which are on the wrong feet with the shoelaces pulled out. Wrapped loosely around her neck is three different coloured scarves, with three woollen gloves on one hand, the other hand bare.   
Louis has been having difficulty getting his daughter to sleep at night lately, although his Mum assures him it’s perfectly normal with her age and the fact that she no longer needs a nap during the day. When he puts her to bed of a night time, she waits until her father has left the room before getting out of bed and doing god knows what. Louis finds her most mornings – or late nights when he checks on her - in different mismatched clothes or with her toys strewn about the room.  
It’s not necessarily a problem, he’s just worried about what will happen when she goes back to daycare. During the holidays, it doesn’t matter much because Louis lets her have a sleep-in the next day, but when he goes back to work, she’ll have to be up early to go to care. And Louis isn’t blinded by love for his daughter, he knows when she’s tired, and when she is, she can be a real little stinker.  
Louis makes his way to kneel next to his daughter’s bed, gently rocking her from side to side with his hand.  
“Honey… it's time to wake up.” The little girl’s eyes flutter open and she smiles at her dad.   
“My is this many, daddy,” She holds up four tiny fingers and wiggles them in front of her father’s face, “fifteen.”  
“Four, Del. You’re four today,” he says as he wraps his arms tightly around his precious little girl and inhales her sweet scent of strawberry shampoo. “Happy birthday!”  
If a stray tear slides gently down his face, well, nobody has to know.  
“Did you say good morning to mummy?” he asks his daughter, gently.  
Both father and daughter glance toward the framed picture, placed on top of Del’s chest of drawers. The wooden frame is painted white with beautiful silver love hearts hand drawn around the outside. Scrawled on the bottom in black marker are the words 'As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventure was about to begin'.  
“Morning mumma” Delaney sing-songs as she gazes toward the beautiful woman, who looks so much like herself. She stares back at her daughter through the photograph. The long straight brown hair cascades down past her shoulders with blonde streaks through it, making the green in her eyes shine with so much more intensity. The beam of light on her face makes her eyes squint half closed with happiness. The tiny little crinkles appears next to the sides of her mouth, her face slightly swollen. Her body is facing sideways, with her head turned toward the camera. She’s wearing a flowing floral dress that reaches just above her knees, and black tights hugs her legs with blue flat shoes completing her outfit. Her stomach is protruding out from her body, both hands underneath supporting it. If you look close enough at the picture, you can see Louis in the background looking perplexed with a screwdriver in his hand with pieces of a baby’s crib spread out around him.  
Breaking himself out of his trance, and holding in his sobs, – that can wait until tonight when he’s alone in bed – he turns to his crazily dressed daughter. “Ready to go see your birthday present from daddy?”   
“Yesh!” she squeals in delight, before scooting out of bed and shuffling into the lounge, obviously not being able to walk normally as she is swathed in so many clothes.  
The delight on his daughter’s face when she sees her present makes all the overtime Louis had been doing at work to pay for it so, so worth it. He always feels horrible when he picks her up from care even an hour later than usual, but she is so ecstatic about her present, he knows he's done the right thing.  
“A big girl bed!” she shrieks as she barrels into the room where the bed Louis has been up all night putting together is located. He’d even stayed up longer to dress it with brand new fluoro yellow sheets, a duvet cover that’s plain purple with tiny little footballs all over it, and a pink cushion with a rainbow elephant placed at the head of the bed. None of the bedding matches at all, and it looks a bit of a mess, but that’s what she had asked for. Nobody better tell Louis his daughter isn’t specific enough with her requests for presents.   
He needn’t have bothered with the hour he’d spend making sure there were no creases in the sheets or duvet cover because Delaney climbs up over the bottom railing of her new bed and proceeds to make ‘snow angels’ on it while singing to herself, “I’m a big girl, I’m a big girl, I’m a big girl!”  
***  
Breakfast consists of Del’s favourite: banana pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, home-made from scratch by daddy, of course. Louis had planned on moving her new bed into her room after breakfast but his daughter had calmly explained to him why that was a horrible idea.  
“Dad, my want to show everyone my big girl bed, at the birthday party today afternoon,” she’s flailing her arms around in excitement, “silly billy.” She bops him on the nose before he catches her around the waist and proceeds to flip her upside down and run around the kitchen island. Del’s high-pitched laughs forced from her chest as her Dad’s hands tickle under her arms.  
“Daddy, daddy! Stop, please!”   
Someone clearing their throat in the doorway brings the duo to a standstill. Delaney's still upside down in her father’s arms, face beginning to turn a rosy red.  
It’s Hot Harry who's standing in Louis’ kitchen doorway.  
“Ha-arry.” Perfect, he’s tripped over his words already. Great job being a mature adult, Louis. “Hi…um.. hi Harry.”  
“Hello,” Harry says, standing pigeon-toed in chef whites while his hair's in a knotted bun with his lips tilted upwards in a shy smile, “I’m sorry that I just let myself in, but I waited outside for ages and the ice-cream cake was starting to melt.”  
“Oh.”   
Confusion washes over Harry’s face, his head tilting to the side as he notices Delaney is still upside down in her father’s arms and turning a worrying shade of red.  
“Um, so where would you like the food?” He questions, no longer sounding sure of himself.  
“OH! You work for the catering company”, he says, understanding finally colouring his tone, before a childlike voice interrupts, timidly.  
“Daddy, my still upside down.”   
Her father’s eyes grow wide as he flips his daughter back onto her feet and watches her eyes roll around as she blinks quickly, getting her bearings back.   
“Oh baby, I’m so sorry.” Putting one hand on either side of her head and looking deep in her eyes for any signs of disorientation. “Are you okay?”  
“Yeppers!” She responds, enthusiastically, “That was fun!”   
She breaks into a skip down the hallway toward her bedroom, calling out behind her, loudly, “Hi Hallie!”  
Both the older men chuckle as Harry yells, “Hi Del,” back to her, turning to question her father,  
“Yeppers?”  
Louis rolls his eyes, a huge breath puffing out of his chest, “It’s her new favourite saying and it drives me absolutely mental. I fucking hate it.”  
His daughter’s shrill voice comes barrelling down the hallway saying “Daddy! Do not swear!”  
Laughter bubbles out of Harry's lips while Louis rolls his eyes, yet again in the direction of Delaney’s bedroom.  
“This is what happens when you have a three-year-old daughter with an attitude, Harry. She - ”  
Delaney’s tiny huff and foot stamping on the floor is only just audible in the kitchen, “My is fifteen, thank you berry much. It is my birthday.”  
Harry smiles widely, calling out a “Happy birthday,” as he walks back out the front door and begins carrying in large boxes filled with food, with Louis unpacking them onto the kitchen bench.  
“You don’t look old enough to have a fifteen year old daughter.”  
“Ha ha ha ha. Very funny. She’s four today, I had her quite young, I was only just twenty when she was born.”  
“I can’t even imagine that. I’m almost 22 so it would be like me having a two year old now. It’s hard to comprehend, but I guess you just adapt, right?”   
There was no judgement in Harry’s tone, at all, just pure curiosity. Something about the younger boy made it easy to be honest and open with an almost complete stranger. To an extent, of course.  
“Yeah, you really do. It’s obviously hard when you’re so young, but it becomes really natural after they’re born and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Like, I can’t imagine her not being part of the world now – of my world.”  
“That’s so lovely. I’m sure you’re a fantastic father.”  
Both boys have smiles on their faces as they continue unpacking the catering in silence, listening to the little girl down the hallway stomp around the floor and sing horribly off-key,  
“Let it grow…let it grow…can’t holler back any-moreee.”  
***  
Harry leaves shortly after, needing to quickly do more deliveries done before the end of his shift. Louis is a tad disappointed they didn’t have time to chat longer, as he and Del begin setting up for the party. They hang up her home-made decorations made from cardboard and pipe cleaners, blew up balloons, and drags the fold-up tables out to the barbecue area.   
The older lad needn’t be disappointed though, because as he and his daughter are standing next to each other in their matching Minion outfits – greeting people at the front door – as Harry walks in the front gate holding Caleb’s hand.   
Caleb is shuffling down the pathway, dressed as Olaf from Frozen and dragging his Uncle behind him, who is holding up his bright blue ‘Queen Elsa’ dress with a closed fist so he won’t trip over it.   
Delaney’s face is ecstatic when she notices who is coming toward her holding a huge wrapped gift with helium balloons floating behind.   
“Caleb! Hallie!” she yells, “Tanks for comin’!”  
Louis tacks on, “You both look great. Olaf, Elsa, please come in.” He moves out of the doorway to gesture them into the house. “Just straight out the back through the double doors and you’ll see the barbecue. You can’t miss it.”   
***  
Everyone’s attention turns to Louis, who is stood on a deck chair, clinking his glass of orange juice with a pair of tongs from the barbecue.  
“Ahem.” He bends down to swing Delaney up onto his hip, so she can help with his speech. “Just a quick thank you to everyone for coming to help celebrate Del’s fourth birthday. Over to the left is face painting and a jumping castle for the kids, and on the right is a few coolers filled with beer and wine to help the adults get through the afternoon.” The adults of the group let out a collective laugh, while the children begin to get anxious and fidgety. “Please help yourself to the table of snacks, and the lolly bar. Lunch will be ready shortly. Anything you’d like to add, Del?” he says, turning the question to his daughter.  
“Tanks for dressing up. Everyone looks ‘flab-ulous!’  
***  
The afternoon goes off without a hitch. The kids have an absolute blast, running around like wild animals, dancing, singing, jumping on the jumping castle, and getting their faces painted.   
Most of the adults elect to stand under the covered barbecue area, huddled around the gas heaters and sipping beer and wine.   
Louis is making sure to try and mingle with everyone when his eyes scan the backyard looking for Harry – just to check he’s found someone to talk to, of course. Not because he’s interested in the man or anything. Harry is talking with Louis’ mother, who travelled back home yesterday specifically for the party. His hand is on her elbow and both their heads are thrown back in laughter. They are nursing glasses of white wine, and before Louis has a chance to look away, Harry’s head turns and their eyes meet across the garden. Louis hates to admit that the thought of the younger boy meeting his mum makes his stomach twist into a tight knot.   
He really wants her to like him, and he’s absolutely not ready to admit to himself on why.   
***  
The party eventually winds down at around four once the children are completely worn out. Louis makes sure to say his goodbyes to everyone, and makes Delaney thank them for her presents.  
Louis strolls back out to the yard to begin cleaning up and finds Harry wandering around with a garbage bag, continuously bending down to snatch up pieces of rubbish. Caleb is jumping around by himself on the jumping castle, squeezing tightly onto his lolly bag and his hand sneaking up to his mouth occasionally when his uncle isn’t looking.   
Louis didn’t get much of a chance to chat to Harry during the afternoon, so his stomach does a little tumble at the thought of spending some one-on-one time with him.   
The clouds are beginning to float in and cover the sky, making the beautiful sunny day they’ve had become a distant memory.   
Louis stands back quietly to admire the younger boy. He’s changed out of his Elsa dress, now squeezed into tight black jeans and a loose grey sweater. His hair is pulled up into a sweaty, messy bun, looking like a knotted up mess. His long blonde Elsa wig probably hadn’t been his hair’s best friend. He’s got brown leather boots that look like they may just fall apart at any second, the leather ripping apart at the seams. It looks like he’s singing under his breath, but Louis can’t make out what song it is from this far away.  
“Dad!” Delaney sprinting out the door and running straight into her father’s thighs, breaks Louis concentration. His daughter is holding a half unwrapped birthday gift, smile on her face from ear to ear. “Can you please read the card? Who gave me this?”   
“Are you opening your presents without me?” he wonders aloud, as he flips open the My Little Pony card. “It’s from Caleb and Harry, sweets.”  
She begins jumping up and down swinging around her present and chanting “Woohoo, woohoo!” She rips off the rest of the wrapping paper, letting it float slowly to the ground, and thrusts her gift up in the air, toward the direction of her dad’s face. “Look! I got a neigh-neigh!”  
Printed on the outside of the rectangle box is a picture of the toy inside. It’s the soft toy horse that Del had been begging for in the shops the day he’d met Harry for the first time. She had explained how it came with brushes and accessories to style the horse’s mane and tail, and came with different coloured rugs for the stuffed animal. Louis specifically remembers this toy because he had wanted to get it for Del for Christmas but it was so expensive he couldn’t afford it on top of all her other gifts under the tree.   
He loses his breath at the thought of Harry spending this much money on a birthday gift for his daughter.  
“I think you might need to run over and thank Harry and Caleb for your lovely gift.” Louis suggests.  
Del takes off across the garden and skids to a stop in front of Harry’s legs. “Thank you for my neigh neigh, Hallie.”  
The man crouches down to the girl’s level and a kind smile glides over his features. “That’s alright, sweetie. I’m glad you like it.”  
Louis has made his way over and stands beside the younger man, speaking down toward his daughter.  
“How about you go and have a little jump on the castle with your friend before we have to deflate it?” Delaney perks up at the idea and takes off toward the castle, her stuffed horse in tow. “Don’t forget to say thank you to Caleb!” he yells after his hyperactive child.  
“Now, you,” Louis says and turns to Harry who has now stood up to his full height, which happens to be a little taller than Louis himself. “I can’t believe you spent so much on Delaney’s present, Harry. That really wasn’t necessary.”  
“Of course it was. It’s a very special day, and she’s a very special friend to Caleb. At least, that’s what he told me when we picked it out in the store.”  
“It was so lovely of you, and she adores it. So thank you, and thanks for helping clean up.”  
Harry shrugs, shyly, and says “That’s alright, Caleb wasn’t ready to leave yet anyway.”  
Louis glances over to see the two kids chasing each other around the jumping castle, the sugar high from the party still obviously haven't worn off yet.   
“Maybe…um... maybe you and Caleb could join us for dinner and ice skating tonight?” Harry suggests, trying to will down the blush dusting his cheeks.   
“I…I mean we…we would love to.”  
***  
Placing their tray of food down onto the table, Louis makes sure that Harry has the kids seated before handing them their Happy Meal toys.  
“Sorry we didn’t go somewhere nicer. Delaney always gets to choose what we do for her birthday dinner.”   
Harry chuckles, shoving five fries into his mouth at once. “That’s alright. I don’t mind a good McNugget every once in a while.”  
The older lads are quiet as they eat, watching the children play with their plastic boat toys, ignoring their cheeseburgers that's going cold on the table.  
Caleb is delighted to be allowed to hang out and spend the night at ‘Cool Uncle Harry’s House’. Louis had overheard the little boy and Harry talking to Caleb’s mum on the phone, to check it was okay. The small blond haired boy is currently pushing his toy boat against Delaney’s and singing a little too loudly for a crowded McDonald’s restaurant.  
“Row, row, row your boat. Gentle down the scream. Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary. Life can part a stream.”  
The two men meet eyes and hold back their laughter. Harry's whispering “Kids are so cute” into Louis' ear. Neither boy mentions the visible shudder that rolls down Louis’ back.  
***  
Harry realises that it was a bad idea ice skating with Louis and Delaney when they walk through the doors of the indoor ice rink; he can’t ice skate.  
Like really, seriously, can’t ice skate.   
He doesn’t realise his feet have stopped walking him forward until Caleb scuttles back to grab his hand and yank him toward the counter to pay.  
Louis pays for everyone despite Harry pulling out his wallet. Louis just pushed his hand away and told him it was his treat. They all sat down on the long silver benches to pull on their skates.  
Once all four of them have their skates on securely, they hobble their way over to the entrance of the ice.   
The two kids and Louis slide seamlessly from the fake grass onto the ice without as much as a stumble.   
All three of them watch as Harry lifts a shaky foot and places it on the frozen water, holding onto the barrier for support. His remaining skate makes it onto the ice and the curly haired lad smiles triumphantly and loosens his hands on the barrier and skates toward the middle of the rink.   
His baby deer legs wobble violently before he loses his balance and tumbles to the ground, the children around him all bursting into loud laughter.   
“Are you alright?” Louis says as skates to Harry and reaches out his hand. “Here let me help you.”  
Louis pulls Harry to his feet and wraps an arm around his waist. Harry looks incredibly embarrassed as he admits, “So, yeah…I’m not a great ice skater.”  
“It’s alright. Look, I’ll show you. It helps if you slightly squat and keep your torso over your knees.”  
The younger boy follows the instructions and becomes steadier on his feet as Louis lets go and skates around to his front.  
“That’s it. Now hold my hands and I’ll pull you along until you get used to the motions.”  
The two men clasp their hands together, Louis skating backwards pulling Harry with him.  
Both boys are giggling like school children, other adults throwing side-eye glances as they glide past, but neither boy seems to notice, too busy trying to keep their laughing under control.   
Delaney and Caleb are skating around by themselves, but staying close as instructed.   
Louis keeps wheezing as he tries to talk through his laughter. “I just…hahahaha…I can’t believe my four year old skates better than you.”  
“Heeeey,” Harry says and pouts, his bottom lip sticking out, forehead crinkling.  
The two men skate in the same position slowly for a while, with Delaney gripping Harry’s leg with her tiny arms to be dragged along, obviously beginning to get a little worn out. Harry’s face abruptly turns serious.   
“Um, Louis,” he asks, bashfully.  
The older lad hums, letting him know he’s listening, while keeping an eye on his daughter and her friend, both now being pulled along by Harry’s legs.  
“I didn’t…I didn’t meet Delaney’s mum today.”  
Louis skids to a stop. Harry must realise he has overstepped an invisible boundary and struggles to backtrack.  
“Sorry, sorry. I…I didn’t…” Before he can even finish his apology, a small voice from below speaks up cheerfully.  
“Hallie, my mummy doesn’t live with us. She lives in heaven. But don’t be sad ‘cos my daddy says she still loves me berry much.”   
Harry’s eyes grow wide and he looks around frantically before his eyes land on Louis’ face. The older lad looks distraught. The look on his face Harry recognises from the first day they’d met in the supermarket and Louis had cried.  
“Louis, I’m sorry, I really am. I didn’t know.”   
Louis forces a smile, his eyes glistening with unfallen tears. “It’s alright. I…um…”  
“Please, please forget I even mentioned anything, I’m so sorry. God…I’m so fucking sorry.” Harry looks like he’s begging Louis not to hate him.  
Del interrupts from below, with an indignant, “Do not swear, please.”  
A tiny smile slides over Louis face, and his eyes turn soft as he looks to Harry. “It’s alright, you didn’t mean any harm. But I’d rather not talk about it, if that’s okay?”  
“Absolutely, let’s go back to skating shall we?” Harry suggests, hopefully.  
“Please.”  
Things remain a little tense between the two, not fully returning to the giggly school boys they were before Harry bought up Delaney’s mother but they’re alright, still skating around holding hands. Harry eventually gets the hang of it and Louis makes a move to pull his hands away and let the boy skate by himself. Harry stumbles then, reaching out to grab back onto the older boy’s forearms.   
Harry has a feeling Louis knows it was a fake stumble, but neither of them mention it.  
***  
The next week passes in much the same way; Louis inviting Harry and Caleb along to various activities with Delaney and himself.   
The foursome visit a kids pottery class, a kids dance class and even a “Father and Child Yoga”. That one doesn’t turn out great for anyone, but it does give them all something to laugh about on the train home.   
Louis has been dying to ask Harry a question for most of the week they’ve been hanging out, and his curiosity finally gets the best of him at the jungle gym on a Sunday. The kids are busy running around and playing while Louis and Harry sit in the small café intended for the parents to keep an eye on their frolicking toddlers.   
Louis blurted out, unable to stop himself from asking Harry, “So, I was just wondering, why you babysit Caleb so often? I mean, you guys have hung out with us almost every day this week.”  
Harry seems taken aback, and a little embarrassed. He keeps his eyes cast downward as he admits, shyly, “I…um…I don’t actually have to babysit him. His mum has been home the whole week, I just- I just like spending time with you.” The boy’s face is flushed vibrant red, all the way down his neck, his eyes darting around the room trying not to meet the eyes that are currently staring straight at him.  
“Harry, you know you don’t have to have Caleb with you to hang out with me and Del, right? You can just come and see us whenever you want.”  
“Really?” Surprise lightened the younger boy’s tone.   
“Yes, you big goon.” Louis leans over to give his friend a playful push in the arm. “You’re a loser.”  
Harry glances away at that, clearing his throat. Louis has never seen him so unsure of himself. “I just… I just wasn’t sure if you were inviting me along because you wanted to see me, or because Delaney wanted to hang out with Caleb.”  
Louis slides his hand slowly across the small table to pat the top of the younger boy’s fingers twice before letting his fingers rest on top of Harry’s hand.  
“Don’t be silly. You are more than welcome to come and hang out with us whenever you want to. We don’t often have many visitors, actually.”  
“How come?” Harry flicks a curl from his eye with his spare hand, “Del seems like a very social young girl.”  
“She is, once she gets to know people. But ever since I’ve been a single Dad, my whole world just stared revolving around my kid. I stopped going out and seeing my old friends. Hell, Harry, I think I’ve only spent about ten nights without her in her whole life, and that’s only because my mum sometimes comes over and says she’s taking Del for the night to give me a break.”  
At some point during Louis little speech, Harry’s hand has flipped over underneath his and their palms are pressed together.  
“Louis,” Harry curls his fingers up to squeeze the older man’s hand, “You have to get out sometimes. You need to have a life too.”  
“I know that, I do. It’s just hard. After she was born, I just threw myself into work and my daughter. Everything I do is for her.” He doesn’t pull his hand away.  
“You still need to concentrate on yourself. You’re important too. Why don’t…” Harry seems to falter then, obviously not confident in what he is about to say. “Why don’t you let me have Del on Friday night for a few hours?”  
Louis slowly pulls his hand away and places it under the table. “But what would I do?”  
“Go out for pints, Lou! See some old mates.”  
The older lad keeps his eyes down on his cup of tea as he runs a finger along the rim of the mug. “I only really have one friend that I still keep in contact with.”   
“Well, ask him for a pint. I have a few friends who are going out that night already. You should join them.”  
“I don’t know, Harry. I just think…”  
“No, no. Don’t start with me, Louis. You’ve spent four years of your life putting yourself second to your daughter. It’s your turn now. No arguments, you’re going out and Delaney can come to my place for the evening.”  
“But I…”  
“No buts!”  
***  
Louis can’t make himself knock on the door. He’s really not sure he wants to do this. Delaney seems to have other ideas though. She delicately knocks her fist on the door to the tune of a song playing in her head.   
She’s dancing lightly on her tiptoes, still in her tutu and ballet flats from her dance class earlier. Her bag is slung over her father’s shoulder, stuffed full of god knows what kind of pyjamas and toys she’s picked out for herself, as Louis wasn’t allowed to help pack.  
Harry hasn’t even had time to pull the door fully open before Delaney is screaming “Hallie!” and skipping past him, into his flat.   
Harry smiles behind him as he watches the little girl sit herself on the floor in the entry and start taking her shoes off. He turns around and takes one look at Louis’ face before he declares, “You’re going. Don’t try and get out of it now.”  
Sighing dejectedly, Louis drags his feet into the entry hallway and stands next to Harry with his head down.   
The younger lad grips Louis hand in his own and practically drags him through to the kitchen area. Standing in a little huddle, whispering to each other are three men of similar age to Louis.   
A blonde man lifts his eyes up and when notices Louis and Harry, his smile breaks into delight before he virtually skips over to pull Louis into a hug.  
“Hey man, I’m Niall. Harry told us you were joining our lad’s night.”  
Scuffling his feet back slowly, Louis clears his throat to reply, “Um, yeah. If that’s alright?”  
The two other men make their way over and the extremely attractive one speaks up, “Dude, relax. We won’t bite. I’m Zayn,” he sticks his hand out and Louis shakes it, “and this is Liam.” Liam waves excitedly at him.  
“Nice to meet you both.”  
The one named Niall thrusts a beer right into Louis hand without even asking if he’d like one, and starts asking a million questions at once.   
Louis immediately relaxes, leans his hip against the kitchen bench and begins answering Niall’s questions, stopping every so often to take a sip of beer.  
***  
Louis is pleasantly buzzed by the time his friend Stan turns up. The five men say their goodbyes to Delaney and Harry, who are sitting on the floor with some Lego between them, building a horse stable.   
Louis must look like he’s about a second from bailing out because Harry pulls him out of his tight hug with his daughter and pushes him out the door with a shout of, “Relax and have fun Lou. I’ll message you every hour with updates.”  
***  
Louis does receive updates every hour, each message with a picture or video attached. In the span of five hours, Delaney and Harry have managed to build a Lego town, finger paint self-portraits, choreograph their own square dance, and create and eat giant ice-cream sundaes for dinner. The final message Louis received was a picture of his daughter sound asleep in Caleb’s bed.   
Knowing that his daughter is asleep and safe with Harry helps alleviate his stress levels, as he lifts the shot to his mouth and feels the liquor burn as it slides down his throat.   
***  
Harry is just beginning to doze off with the TV playing quietly in the background when he hears it. There’s a series of quiet knocks on his front door and a familiar voice whispering, “Excuse me, hot Harry. Please open the door. It’s Louis William here to collect my daughter from you.” His voice is slightly muffled, like he has it squished against the door.  
When Harry doesn’t immediately answer, the man outside starts again. “Harry. Hot, hot Harry. Please come to the door. Thank you very much, come again.”  
Harry pulls the door open with a smirk, and a big ball of man tumbles onto the floor in front of his feet.   
Louis looks up from the ground and exclaims, “Hello hot, sexy, lovely Harry!” before he realises what he’s said and slaps a hand over his mouth, mumbling, “Oops. I was supposed to say that inside my own head.”  
“Good night, then?” Harry questions. Leaning down to pull the older man into a standing position, he supports him on the journey to the lounge.  
“It was just the best time ever.” Louis is gesturing wildly, his head flopping down onto Harry’s shoulder. “Shots and dancing, and so many onions.”  
“Onions?”  
“Yes, Harry. Onions.” He twists his head to begin nuzzling into the younger boy’s neck, his lips just barely brushing the sensitive skin under Harry’s ear. “You know those tiny little cocktail onions that go on platters of cheese and stuff? They’re like pickled onions. Tiny little picked onions. Anyway, I ate so many onions.”  
“I’m glad you relaxed and had a good time, Lou.”  
The older boy latches his lips to the skin of Harry’s neck and kisses lightly, “Mmm, I love when you call me Lou.” Another kiss.  
“Louis, what are you doing?” Harry tries to pull back, but Louis just grabs him around the neck and pulls him closer, mouth opening to nibble on the skin. Harry can’t help but let a small whimper fall from his lips.  
“Just let me kiss you, Harry.”  
“No, Lou. C’mon, stop.” He reaches around his own neck to grasp his friend’s wrists and remove them from his body. He slides back to put some space between them and Louis lets out a whine, which is not unlike one of a young child. “You’re drunk, love. How about we get you to bed, yeah? You and Del can stay here tonight.”  
With his arms crossed over his chest, and his bottom lip pushed out in a pout, Louis nods once, angrily. “Fine.”  
***  
When Louis drags himself out of bed during mid-morning the next day, he’s pretty sure he looks a bit worse for wear. Making his way into the lounge room, he spots his daughter and Harry doing some kind of meditation. Both are sitting cross-legged on the floor with their palms on their knees, and their eyes closed.   
Louis clears his throat as two sets of eyes flick up towards him.  
“Hi daddy,” Del speaks up. “We’re doing yogi.”  
“Wow, honey, that looks like fun. Were you good for Harry last night?”  
His daughter and Harry lock eyes and smile widely at each other. “Yesh. Hallie taught me all about ‘mergencies.”  
“Emergencies,” Harry clarifies, as he gets to his feet and pads into the kitchen. “I showed her how to use the phone to call your Mum or me if anything bad happens. We decorated a piece of paper with important numbers for her to put near your telephone at home.”  
Louis is amazed. He can’t believe Harry has gone to all this trouble to help his daughter learn how to use the phone in case of emergency, not to mention he’s left his own number there for her to call.  
“Tha – that’s incredible Harry, thank you.” He follows the younger man into the kitchen and accepts the glass of water and two pain killers that are passed to him.  
His daughter skids in behind them, already dressed for the day in a rainbow dress, with black tights and a cardigan to keep warm. Her hair is half up-half down with a bright pink bow perched on top of her head. She looks so cute and much more put together than when Louis attempts to do her hair. “And daddy, guess what?” She jumps up and down in front of him until he reaches down to pull her onto his hip. “We learned about danger stranger.”  
“I think you mean stranger danger, Del.”  
Delaney looks to Harry, perplexed, before Harry explains, “It is stranger danger, really good try though.”  
The little girl shrugs off her mistake before continuing. “I have to go to the police if I getted lost and tell them my number for my home and where I live. Then they help me find my daddy again.”   
She sounds proud of herself as Louis pulls her close to whisper, “Well done, baby. I’m very proud that you were a good girl for Harry.” He looks up to make eye contact with the curly haired lad and says, “Thank you, Harry. I really appreciate it.”  
“Don’t you mean Hot Hot Sexy Harry?” A smirk covers his face as he looks toward Louis, eyebrows up, challenging.  
“Oh God, no.” It’s all rushing back now.  
Harry just laughs it off and turns to open the fridge. Louis notices a small bruise formed just under the curls flowing down below his ear.   
Neither boy mentions it over brunch.  
***  
Harry had said he was returning to work the day after their brunch together. He left Del and her father three days alone before Louis goes back to work, and Delaney back to daycare, with the feeling that their Christmas/New Year break was over far too soon.  
The three days at home together consist mostly of Del calling Harry’s mobile and telling him there’s a ‘mergency’. Her emergencies range from: “Hallie, we runned out of milks!” to “Hallie, dad is in the shower for a long time.” Each and every time she calls, Harry cooperates with her, lets her know she has done a great job and he’s proud of her for using the phone before Louis comes running and apologises profusely down the line.   
The day Delaney goes back to daycare, Louis is devastated. This is the year his daughter officially goes to school. As in, actual real school.   
Up until September, the daycare will be preparing the kids for their transition from daycare to school. This involves weekly visits for a few hours at a time, and for Delaney it involves five hours a week at an early intervention program as she’s a little behind where she should be mentally to start school.   
When he drops off Del at the school, Louis is quite surprised to see Harry at the front gate, holding Caleb’s hand with a huge smile focused in his direction.  
“Harry, what are you doing here?”  
“Just dropping Caleb to care. I don’t start work until lunch time today.”  
Delaney and Caleb are not paying any attention to the adults next to them, too excited about seeing each other again and talking quietly between themselves about the sandpit.   
Louis isn’t sure if Harry is bringing Caleb to daycare so they can see each other again. He feels like it’d be a bit egotistical to ask, but he’s never seen Harry here before, so he has his suspicions of the younger boy.   
“I don’t start for a while either.” The foursome head inside the centre while Harry and Louis sign the kids in and put their bags into their lockers. “Feel like grabbing a coffee? There’s a place right down the road from here.”  
“Sure, I’d love to.”  
***  
The two months following goes in much the same way, Louis and Harry meet up for coffee after dropping of the kids every morning, and stay until it’s time for Louis to start his shift at the hospital administration office.  
Harry discovers very quickly that Louis is a closed book and rarely talks about anything too personal. All he’s been able to find out so far is that Delaney goes to an early intervention program twice a week because she’s not as mentally competent as she should be for her age.   
Louis explains that it’s because she had complications during her birth and was without air for almost eight minutes. Harry learns that this has caused her to develop about six months slower than other kids her age. It explains why she seems younger than Caleb when she’s actually a few months older.   
The men gradually learn quite a bit about each other, and share many of the same interests. Their conversations range from movie and television to arguments on the best snack to eat with a cup of tea. Very rarely though does the discussion delve any deeper than a bit of banter.  
Harry doesn’t necessarily mind just having a good laugh every morning with the older man, but sometimes he wishes they could share more than just a joke all the time. The more time they spend together, the more his pesky feelings keep lingering and growing stronger.  
Harry has been slowly falling a little bit more in love with Delaney each day. The two have become bizarrely attached to one another in such a short span of time. Every Friday Harry arrives to pick her up for their ‘date’ and Delaney is absolutely smitten, often running around packing her Peppa Pig handbag while the gentleman waits at the door. The pair do something new and exciting every week, with Harry refusing to let Louis pay for whatever activity they choose for the evening.  
They even talk on the phone most nights, with Delaney still super excited about her new found talent of using the telephone and creating a new ‘mergency’ every other day.  
Harry is looking forward to dragging Louis out with himself and Delaney tonight, planning on going to see a film with the father and daughter. Before he even has a chance to have a shower and get ready, though, his mobile begins ringing from his bedroom. Sprinting to answer in time, he doesn’t bother to check the caller ID. It’s only when he pants a quick hello into the phone that Delaney’s piercing voice screeches into the phone, “Hallie, daddy is in a real ‘mergency! Real bad ‘mergency. Help! Help Hallie!”  
Her call sounds different that her usual fake emergencies. The young girl sounds distressed and Harry knows immediately that it’s legit.  
“Delaney, honey. Please tell me what’s happening.” He’s scrambling to get his shoes on and find his keys while he waits for the little girl on the other end of the line to tell him what’s happening.  
“I…I was being naughty,” the girl begins to sob loudly, clearly distressed. “I did not want to get out of the shower because I was playing with my neigh neigh and bubba.”  
“Then what happened, sweetie? Is daddy hurt?”  
“Yesh. He gots mad at me and fell over and now he’s sleeping.”  
Harry is speeding down the road in his car, thanking the heavens that he lives quite close to Louis and Delaney’s house.   
“Stay on the phone please, Del. I’m almost at your house.”  
The pair stay on the phone, Harry trying to get the young girl to make sure Louis is still breathing until he bursts through the door and heads straight for the bathroom.   
“Louis!” The man is lying on his back in the shower, water still gushing from the nozzle onto his motionless body. There’s a trail of blood creeping toward the drain with the water, and Harry realises immediately that it’s coming from the older boy’s head.  
“Oh God, Louis.”  
Harry reaches to turn off the shower and pulls a towel of the rack nailed to the bathroom wall. Balling it up into his fists, he kneels down on the wet tiled floor and pulls the motionless body onto his lap, pressing the towel to a small gash on the back of Louis’ head.  
“Louis,” speaking gently and running his fingers lightly over the face looking up at him, Harry tries to keep calm for the sake of the man and his daughter. “Wake up, Lou. Come on, love.”  
It’s only after Louis’ eyes begin to flutter open that the curly haired lad feels comfortable enough to look away and check on Delaney.  
The little girl is stark naked and dripping wet, standing outside the shower shivering and peering through the glass at her father. She’s clearly distressed, her face as pale as Louis’.  
“Del, honey.” Harry gestures her over, ensuring his voice stays calm and relaxed for the benefit of the four-year old. “Can you please run and put some clothes and shoes on, we need to take daddy to the doctors.”  
She shuffles out of the room quickly, just as Louis lifts an arm slowly toward his forehead, mumbling ouch as he rubs his head slowly.  
“It’s alright love, it’s just Harry. You’ve had a fall and hit your head.” He guides Louis arms back down to his side and takes over rubbing soothing fingers over the man’s temples. “Just try and stay calm and we’ll get you to a hospital, okay babe?”  
The pair stay together on the cold shower floor, both wringing wet and fully clothed until Delaney makes her way back into the room looking saddened.  
“It’s alright, honey,” Harry reassures her, “you didn’t mean to hurt daddy.”  
The young girl is standing in her blue dressing gown, flannelette pyjamas poking out the bottom and meeting the tops of her slippers. She is determinedly looking at the floor and refusing to make eye contact with Harry.  
“But I was naughty, Hallie.”  
“You didn’t know he would fall, love. It’s okay. Let’s go and hop into daddy’s car all right?”  
“And take him to the horse-pital?”  
“Yeah, darling. Let’s go get daddy all better.”  
***  
Louis is released from the hospital three hours later with only a mild concussion and a small shaved patch on the back of his head. The doctor had recommended someone stay with him for at least 24 hours, and warned that his head had taken quite a hit, so he may slur some words and speak some dialogue that may not make complete sense.  
It’s not until Harry gets Louis home and onto the his bed for a rest that Harry realises just how strange the older boy is acting.   
He’s just gotten Delaney ready and put her into bed when he walks back to the Louis' to see the older boy kicking his legs in the air and laughing at himself.  
“I’m pretty sexy, don’t you think?” Louis is slurring a little, but not so much that Harry can’t understand what he’s saying. “Do you think I’m sexy, Harry?”   
He’s running his hands down his body in what Harry assumes is supposed to be a sexy manner, but it just makes him look like he’s itching.   
“I…yeah babe, you’re very sexy,” the younger boy says through a chuckle.  
Louis positively lights up with pride. “Babe. I like that. Hannah used to call me babe, so I don’t really like anyone calling me that, but I really like when you call me that so you should totally keep calling me that.” He’s prattling on, waving his hands around and looking pleased with himself.   
“Who’s Hannah?”  
Harry is somehow expecting Louis to shut down the subject and curl in on himself like he always seems to when the conversation turns serious, but he looks unaffected as he rambles an explanation.   
“Oh, she’s Delaney’s mum. I don’t like to talk about her with you.”  
Harry a seat on the side of the bed. “Why not?”  
Suddenly, tension seeps into the room and Louis seems to sober quickly.  
“We just have so much fun together, Haz, and I never want to bring that down by talking about sad times in my life.”  
Harry runs the pads of his fingers over the older man’s ankle bone. “Lou, we’re friends. You should be allowed to open up to me without being judged. I want to know about you, beyond the superficial stuff.”  
The look on Louis’ face changes as quick as a flick of a light switch. Sadness and anger wash over his features and he directs his next statement to Harry in such a harsh way, the boy isn’t sure where to look. “Harry, I don’t want to talk about this. Drop it.”  
“But Lou-“  
“Just go to bed please. I’m tired.”  
Harry does his best not to look back as he leaves the room and heads into the guest room for the night.  
When he wakes in the morning Louis and Delaney are gone.  
***  
Time seems to stand still and speed up at the same time, days whirl and blur into one as months pass and Harry is convinced he’s fucked it all up.   
***  
Reaching out to grab his mobile off the coffee table, his hand falls a few inches short. Letting it ring out, Harry closes his eyes again, way too tired to reach over and see who is trying to contact him.  
When the phone begins buzzing for a fourth time, he makes more of an effort to reach further and snatch up the mobile to press it to his ear, not opening his eyes once.  
“Hello.”  
“Harry, it’s- um…it’s Louis.”  
The younger boy shoots up into a sitting position as a million horrible thoughts run through his mind. Why would Louis be calling him after such a long radio silence? Has something happened to Delaney? Oh God.  
“What’s wrong?” Harry is sure his voice is several octaves higher than his normal tone, and laced with concern.  
“There hasn’t been an accident or anything, don’t stress. But Del has just thrown the fucking tantrum of the century in the middle of the lounge room floor and is refusing to move unless she sees her Hallie.” Louis sounds defeated through the crackly line of the phone.  
“Oh”   
Silence stretches on for a few seconds before Harry speaks timidly, “Should I like…come over and see her.”  
The younger boy can hear Louis exhale loudly, clearly relieved. “Would you mind? She’s turned herself into a dead weight so I can’t even pick her up. She’s so bloody heavy.”  
“Of course, I’ll be there in a few.”  
He doesn’t wait for an answer before he’s hanging up the phone and shuffling out of the door.   
***  
Louis knows Harry is coming over, but he’s still shocked when he pulls open the door and the curly-haired lad is bouncing from one foot to the other.   
He looks unbelievably sexy. He's dressed in old sweats and an oversized knit sweater that falls off one shoulder. Louis imagines this is how he would look on a lazy Sunday, bundled up by the fire. The thought makes Louis heart sink as he counts the lazy Sunday’s they have spent without each other since they fought.  
Harry doesn’t stop to make small talk, jogging into the open area of the lounge before squatting down and speaking softly to the young girl laying face-down on the floor.   
“Hi honey.”  
Del’s head pop’s up from the floor so quickly, Louis is worried for a second she’s given herself a nasty whiplash.   
"Hallie!" she screams, as she throws herself into his arms.  
The two embrace for so long – with Harry rubbing small circles into the little girl’s back – and Louis feels so bloody guilty. He had no right to stop his daughter from seeing her 'friend' just because he was having confusing feelings for the man.

He's never had someone care so much about him that they want to know such deep details of his personal life. And, to be honest, he's never had to tell the story of Delaney's mother out loud to anyone. Everyone he cares enough about to know, were there for him when it happened.

But Harry makes him want to be honest. Although he knows as soon as he spills out his feelings Harry will run, and he can't do that to Del again. If she wants to see Harry, she bloody well should be able to see Harry.

Louis watches the pair as they roll around on the hard wood of the floor – still embracing – and giggling happily with each other. 

The bright sun streaming through the window casts a glow over both of them and Louis can't help but think about how he hasn't seen his daughter this happy in a while.

Soon enough, Delaney drags Harry to her room to play with her dolls, Louis chooses not to join them, picking instead to sitting alone in the kitchen and trying to decide the best way to tackle this 'thing' with Harry.

There really isn't any point in worrying about it though, because his mouth betrays him half an hour later.

As soon as Harry appears in the doorway, Louis spits out, "Thanks for coming. Del's really missed you,” before beckoning him toward the door and closing it swiftly behind him. Smooth Louis, that wasn't rude at all.

Just as he’s turning to walk back down the hallway, he hears Harry speaking to him through the hard wood of the front door. 

“Why can’t you just trust me enough to tell me what’s wrong? I thought we were friends. Whatever it is I did, I’m truly sorry.”

Louis takes a peek through the peep-hole to see Harry’s back walking toward his car parked out front. The hunch to his shoulders making something churn in Louis’ stomach.

He feels bad for the rest of the evening. He only lasts two hours before he's knocking on his mum's door with a sleeping child in his arms and thanking her profusely for babysitting at such a short notice.

***

Swinging his socked feet up onto the coffee table next to his beer, Harry relaxes back into the soft couch and closes his eyes. 

Dancing behind his closed eyelids are visions of brown hair and sea blue eyes, of thoughtfulness and kindness, of laughter and childishness, of entertainment and fun and occasionally of heartbreak.   
Of Louis. Louis, his lovely, amazing friend Louis, who is a wonderful father to a gorgeous daughter who seem to weave their way into Harry’s thoughts and dreams daily.   
A knock on his door pulls Harry out of his reverie. It really is too late to deal with visitors and he’s considering staying really still and pretending he’s not home until they go away.   
However the knocking is steady and continuous. Whoever is here obviously wants to see him pretty urgently.   
Dragging himself toward the door, knocks still persistent, he tugs the door open and almost receives a punch in the mouth as Louis goes to knock again. His hand drops and he hurries inside and winds his arms tightly around his friend.   
“I fell in love at 15,” Louis starts babbling, still entwined in their hug, “She was so beautiful, Haz. Funny, gentle, talked a lot though. She used to chatter non-stop when she got nervous around me, it was so bloody adorable. She had long brown hair and huge green eyes just like Del. Her name was Hannah.”  
Harry gently pulls away from the embrace, keeping an arm around Louis’ back and guiding him into the lounge room and gently down onto the couch, covering him with a light knitted blanket and sliding down next to him waiting for Louis to continue talking.   
The silence between them continuing for several minutes before the younger boy whispers “She sounds lovely, Lou,” in hopes that his friend will continue opening up to him.  
“She truly was, Harry. She really, truly was. It wasn’t like we lived in a fairytale and never fought or anything like that. We were growing up together, so of course we fought. Mostly about stupid things though, and she would always start giggling so sweetly during our arguments, which of course made me laugh and just like that, our fight would end with us in fits of giggles in the school hallway or in my childhood bedroom. It was just fun, being around her. She was my first girlfriend, my first everything really. First crush, first kiss, first love and then about a year and a half later…my first, you know. I could tell her anything, and there was never judgement in her eyes, no matter what. I knew everyone was thinking we were too young to know what true love was, even our parents, but I know it was real love. I just know it was, Harry.”  
Harry noticed that Louis was beginning to get a little tense and worked up, and began rubbing large, soothing circles onto his back while he continued.  
“We went through school together, the typical high school sweetheart story. The longer we stayed together, and grew up together, the more our family came around and saw us being in love as real and not stupid puppy love any more. We’d have huge family barbecues at my Mum’s house every Sunday, with both our families together. Our parents became really close friends, and the conversations at the barbecues started leaning toward talking about our future. We’d sit with both our parents and talk about our future as a huge, happy family, eventual marriage, children, the whole shebang. I guess it was just assumed by everyone that we’d stay together and eventually get married, I wanted that. I’ve always been a hopeless romantic and imagined myself having a big wedding, lots of kids, a white picket fence around my house. Stupid, I know.”  
Harry interjects quickly to reassure him, “Hey, hey. No, you’re not stupid. Please don’t think that. I’m sorry to interrupt, but would you like a beer? You look like you could use one.” Louis smiles gently back at him, nodding.  
“Yes, please.”  
Minutes later the boys are curled together on the couch again nursing beers, with Harry running his fingers through Louis’ hair lightly. “Where were we?” he whispers.  
“Um… so anyway, hopeless romantic, marriage, blah blah blah. We were together for just under four years when Hannah told me she was pregnant. We were 19 at the time, both out of school and working full time. We were both so scared when we found out, but I was also kind of ecstatic.   
“I mean, a baby. I’d grown up with young sisters all my life, and I’d always wanted to be a dad. Maybe not so early in life, but I couldn’t help being happy about the thought of a baby. We’d already decided we wanted to keep it before we’d even told our parents, and when we eventually told them about the pregnancy and our plans to keep the baby, they were shocked of course, but so supportive. Especially me mum, because she’d had me at a really young age, so she was amazing through it all.   
“Anyway, we decided to keep the baby and the pregnancy was all smooth sailing. We found a house to rent together, and moved in. I worked my ass off to save money for us to buy all our own baby necessities with minimal help from our parents. We wanted to be mature adults and support ourselves and our baby together, a real little family. I’d even secretly saved enough to buy Hannah an engagement ring. I had it hidden in my underwear drawer at mum’s house for after she’d had the baby. I was waiting for the perfect moment, but I wasn’t in any rush. After all, we had our whole lives in front of us. It really felt like the life I’d always dreamed of was coming true. I was getting everything I’d always wanted.   
“I, um, I turned 20 that Christmas and then the baby countdown was on. She, or he – we didn’t know the sex of the baby back then – was a week late. I remember Hannah and me positively jumping out of our skin to finally have this baby. We were doing everything to bring on labour – going on long drives, bouncing on trampolines, eating hot chillies. We just wanted to be parents so damn bad. I remember us watching the New Year’s Eve midnight fireworks from our balcony, bringing in the New Year together and we were kissing after the countdown finished and then BAM, she went into labour right then. We were finally getting our baby.”  
Fingers gently wiping away stray tears under his eyes breaks Louis out of his daze. He lets Harry dab his eyes dry with a tissue from the coffee table before snuggling in closer, throwing his arm over Harry’s waist and accepting a fist full of tissues for the next part of the story.  
“She was in labour for 28 hours. It was the longest time of my life.  
“But I was there for her the whole time, getting her whatever she needed. It sounds like a long time, but apparently that’s fairly normal. The nurses had to keep reassuring me that there was nothing wrong and everything that Hannah was going through was perfectly normal.  
“Finally, finally it was time for her to push.   
“All I really remember was that it all seemed to be going well until the nurses started to get frantic and heaps of doctors were called into the room. They hooked her up to so many machines and there were buzzers and beepers going off all around her.   
“Everyone started panicking, and then a nurse guided me out of the room and said Hannah was experiencing complications with her delivery and someone would come and tell me any news as soon as they could.  
“I was in a right mess, Haz. My mum couldn’t even console me. I was pacing the hospital so much I swear I wore out their floor.   
“It was ages, hours, before a nurse came out to find me. She didn’t even have to say anything, she just looked at me and I knew. I just knew what she was going to say. Hannah hadn’t made it. She was dead, Harry.”   
Sobs echoed through the quiet room and it took Louis a second to realise they didn’t come from him.   
“Turned out she had passed away from complications of childbirth.”  
Harry sniffed loudly, heaving breaths leaving his body as he tried to compose himself. “That’s so…that’s so rare.” He immediately realised how insensitive he must have sounded. “Shit, sorry. That was so rude. I didn’t…I didn’t mean --“  
“It’s fine, really. It is quite rare these days- but still happens occasionally.   
“I don’t remember much after that. I remember collapsing to the hospital floor and staying there for hours curled with my mum just sobbing.   
“It never occurred to me to ask about the baby, it was just all so overwhelming. I’d just lost the love of my life.  
“Mum helped me walk to the nursery later and the nurse told me they had saved the baby. A beautiful, healthy baby girl. She was so perfect.  
“She was the spitting image of her mother and I swear I’d never known love like the time I held her for the first time.”  
By the time he’s finished talking, Louis is absolutely shaking like a leaf with tears pouring down his face. Harry isn’t fairing much better. A quick look to Harry’s face shows the curly haired boy trying his best to hold in sobs and wiping his eyes roughly with a fist full of tissues.  
When Louis talks again, it’s much quieter, with such sadness in his voice that Harry pulls him into his chest and starts rocking him like a child.  
“Hannah’s parents haven’t spoken to me or Del since that day. They still blame me for their daughter dying. If I hadn’t have gotten her pregnant, she would still be here today. That’s how they see it anyway.   
“And I ‘spose if the same thing happened to Delaney when she was older, I’d probably feel the same way.   
“I can’t really blame them for not wanting to see her, especially since she is so much like her Mum. It must be so hard for them. But it’s really sad that Del has never met them.”  
The boys are still rocking together when Louis pulls away and begins situating himself so he’s facing Harry with his legs crossed in front of himself. His face looks so serious that Harry does the same.   
“I always thought I’d never be with anyone again after her. That I would never feel the same way I felt with her. But then…” he gulps air into his lungs, his chest puffing out with the motion. He lets his breath out slowly, preparing himself.   
“But then I met you Haz. And you were lovely, and funny, and so kind.   
“In some ways you really remind me of Hannah. You’re quite similar, you and her. Call me crazy, but sometimes I think she’s chosen you for me. Like, she’s sent you to me and Del, to help fill in all the holes she left in our lives. You make me feel like she used to, back when we first met.”  
Their hands have subconsciously drifted closer to each other, fingers entwining so perfectly with each other it’s like two pieces of a puzzle finally clicking together.   
“I…I really like you, Haz.”  
“I really like you too. So much.”  
For the first time since Louis stumbled through the front door, both boys have smiles on their faces; smiles that light up their whole faces, and that make Harry’s dimples look deeper than Louis has ever seen them; smiles that leave fireworks sparkling in their eyes when they look at each other.  
Their faces are brought together by a force so strong it’s like magnets drawing them together, both of them helpless to stop it.  
When their mouths meet in a sweet, gentle kiss, Louis’ sees stars. Sky-rockets shoot behind his closed eyelids as he has his first kiss in almost four years.  
Gasping out loud, Louis reaches out and scrunches the hair behind Harry’s ears in his fists, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.   
As their tongues meet, the boys both moan out loud a clutch each other harder. Louis’ hands sliding through Harry’s soft hair, and Harry’s fingertips drawing tiny circles on Louis’ lower back.   
Eventually, Harry slows the kiss, not wanting it to get any more heated tonight, since it’s not the right time. They pull apart with an unattractive sucking sound, both chuckling together.  
Harry reaches out and rests their foreheads together, looking deep into the older boys’ eyes.   
“Thank you for sharing that with me.”  
“Thank you for listening to me,” he leans forward to peck Harry’s lips again, unable to help himself, “and for giving me the most amazing first kiss ever,” another kiss, “and for being a wonderful person who I like so damn much.”  
Harry’s cheeks turn pink and rosy, as he entwines his fingers with the older man. “Stay tonight?”  
“Yeah.”  
Nothing happens that night. The pair curl up together under the duvet on Harry’s bed, legs entangled and sharing body heat.   
Louis leaves in the morning with a kiss to brown fluffy curls and a smile lighting up his face.

***

Del is absolutely over the moon that Harry is back in her life. The trio spend time together several times a week, having dinners and going to movies- but Louis refuses to let Harry touch or kiss him in front of his daughter.

Behind closed doors- or more appropriately- when the four year old is distracted, Louis is extremely affectionate. Crowding the younger boy against the kitchen island and snogging him, or letting his hand slide into Harry's under the dining room table at dinner. However, when the younger man sidles up beside him at the kitchen sink to wrap an arm around Louis' waist, he's pushed away gently with a subtle look and whispered "sorry, not now."

It's not that Harry MINDS necessarily- he understands why Louis would want to keep it from his daughter, but on the other hand, it would be nice to maybe be able to ask him on a proper date, or at least know if they're even dating each other formally.

It's not until later that night after Del is tucked into her own bed and the two men are making out on the couch- that the words come tumbling out before Harry has a chance at stopping them. 

"Are we dating?"

Tension seeps into the room as Louis freezes and climbs off where he was straddling Harry to start pacing the room.

"Haz, I don't know if that's the best idea," looking back to where the curly haired lad is still laying. "I don't want to bring someone into Del's life that might not stay. She's too young to deal with that kind of heartbreak."

Harry's not quite sure why- but he's feeling anger pool in his gut.

"Well what about your heart, huh?” he snaps, standing up to confront Louis. "And mine. I understand she's your daughter, but at some point you need to put faith in someone else that they love her and you enough to stay and give it a shot."

Louis eyes widen as he stutters out "L-Love? You love us?"

"Well, yeah. I love you both in a way that I want to stick around and see where this could go.”

Louis sighs. “Haz. Babe, you know that it’s not all rainbows and puppy dogs around here all the time? Del is just a kid, sometimes she can be naughty. Really naughty, and are you sure you’re prepared for such a commitment?”  
Harry stands up off the lounge to begin pacing the room, tugging his hair irritably. “Jesus, Lou. I’m not a fucking idiot. I know kids are naughty sometimes. Stop treating me like a child! I want to stick around, so fucking trust that I’ll stick around.”  
Louis darts over to wrap his arms around the younger boy. “I’m sorry. I’ll try, Haz. I can’t promise it’ll happen overnight, but I’ll try and let you in.”  
Smiles take over both the boys faces as they seal the deal with a kiss.  
***  
The year that follows is full of firsts.  
The first time Harry and Louis try to have sex- they’ve spent the better part of an hour blowing and rimming each other and Louis is just about to push in- when they are interrupted by a small voice on the other side of the door exclaiming, “I cannot get in. You never close the door, Daddy!”   
Both men simultaneously groan as Louis calls out a “Hold on, sweetie” and pulls on some briefs to go open the bedroom door. The rest of the night is spent with a snoring Delaney squished in between them.  
The first time they actually have sex, they’ve learned from their mistakes and sent Del to stay with Louis’ Mum for the night.   
They fuck on every available surface in the house all night, and are looking a little worse for wear when they arrive to pick up the young girl in the morning - Jay smirking as she waves them goodbye.  
The first time they say “I love you,” it’s at the dinner table. Louis can’t hold back the words any longer, blurting them out randomly just as Harry has a fork full of peas about to go into his mouth. “I love you.” The peas drop and begin to roll in different directions all over the table and he smiles into his empty fork, before replying shyly, “I love you too.” Delaney throws her arms in the air to scream “I LOVE YOU BOTH!”  
The first time Harry disciplines Delaney, he’s worried he has overstepped a boundary. The young girl is on the living room floor playing with her lego as Harry sees her lift a small piece and slide it between her lips.  
“Del,” Harry starts gently, “Please don’t put lego in your mouth. You’ll swallow it, sweetie.”  
Dels reply is anything but sweet. She narrows her eyes at him and spits out “I will not. Shut up.”  
Harry hides his shock at her tone as he stands to reach out and gra her hand, gently tugging her to her feet and guiding them to the young girls room.  
“Please don’t speak to me like that, Delaney. Now you can spend five minutes in your room for quiet time, please.”  
Delaney huffs and throws herself onto her bed as Harry closes the door softly and turns on his heels to come face-to-face with Louis.   
“I-I’m sorry, Lou…”  
“Don’t be. If you’re going to be in our life, you have the right to discipline her too. The bad times are part of the deal too.”   
The first time Louis drops his daughter at school, he’s holding back tears as he snuggles further into the warmth of Harry’s chest. A young woman approaches then, holding Del’s hand and directs a question at the two men embracing.  
“You must be Delaney’s parents? I’m Miss Wilson and I’ll be her teacher this year. Don’t worry she’s in great hands.”  
Louis looks up into Harry’s eyes and whispers, softly. “Yeah, we’re Delaney’s parents.”  
The two walk home hand-in-hand with smiles covering their faces and tears gleaming in their eyes.

 

***

8 Years Later  
***  
“Delaney Johannah Styles, I said no.”  
“But Hallie!”  
“No.”  
The twelve-year- old huffs loudly before spinning on her heels, stomping into the office, and slamming the door.   
Harry whirls around on his swivel chair to face his daughter as she throws herself down on a chair opposite him, huffing again.  
“Hallie…”  
“I heard, honey.” Harry interrupts, before she can continue. “Your dad said you’re too young to go to a concert on your own.”  
“But that’s not fair!”  
“I know, sweets. It really sucks but he’s just looking out for you.”  
The distraught look on the young girl’s face is enough to have Harry adding, “How about I talk to your dad, and, if Aunty Lottie can go with you, he might change his mind.”  
A huge scream bursts out of her mouth before she jumps up to embrace the him. “Seriously? Oh my god, thank you!”  
Harry wraps his arms around her middle, still sitting on his office chair, as she squeezes him tightly. “I can’t promise he’ll agree Del, but I’ll chat to him.”  
“Thank you so much dad!” she exclaims.  
Both freeze and pull away slightly from each other as Harry asks, carefully, “Did you just…did you just call me dad?”  
Delaney keeps her eyes to the floor as her hands wring together, “Yeah. You are my papa. We have the same last name since you and dad…other dad, got married. Besides, Derek and Lizzie call you both dad, so I thought I could too?” She seems unsure of herself, so Harry pulls her close and places a kiss on her head, blinking away the tears.  
“Of course you can. Oh honey, of course you can. I love you, your brother and your sister all the same. You are all my children. Never forget that.”  
“I won’t dad.” The two embrace in silence for another minute before Delaney speaks up, “Are you sure I can’t go to the concert on my own?”  
Harry squeezes her tighter. “Not a chance.”


End file.
